Speak effectively: The Power of the Spin I

From ten-year-olds to two-time presidents, people who are in the business of persuasion have often utilized the power of the spin. The spin has helped its masters win everything from who gets to ride shotgun to who gets to call the shots in the highest offices of our societies. Effective speaking is about producing results and the spin is a priceless technique for achieving this.

The spin has been used to start and end wars. It has been used for noble as well as ignoble purposes. By itself, it is amoral – neither good nor bad. A tool.

Therefore, like with any tool, in the right hands, it can weave the beautiful. In the wrong hands, the ugly. But what is it? In this series, we will dive into the spin. What is it and how can you use it.

What is the spin?

The spin is simply how you tell a story. It is how you relate the details of a situation. It is how you give an account of an event. The spin you put on it to – and here is the key – lead the listener to a definite conclusion.

In addition, it may also be used to teach the listener a lesson. An example of this is the metaphor or, for the spiritually inclined, the parable.The spin has been called many different things depending on who you ask or what you read. For instance, in Neurolinguistic Programming, it is called framing; the man on the street may call it a version, a philosopher may call it a bias, a psychoanalyst may call it a narrative. And the media calls it, well, news. I call it simply the spin.

It is not a new term neither does the term belong to me. I chose the term spin because it communicates the deliberation and craft involved in using a presentation to persuade. You have probably heard the expression “spinning yarn” used to describe the act of elaborately (ahem) lying. It is rather unfortunate that the term has taken on a negative connotation as I believe it has swayed many well-meaning people seeking to make positive changes in their communities away from using the technique. They feel it is manipulative and unethical.

Meanwhile, they are going about their daily lives completely unaware of how much actual sway the spins of others have on their thoughts, behaviour and conduct. They do not even realize how much they themselves use the spin already – every day. And in often less than righteous ways.

You already use the spin

When you complain about your snarky boss or chairman to your friends or tell your significant other about the idiot who snarled at you in traffic, you are using the spin.

You emphasize points that paint you as hero or victim and conveniently leave out the fact that you did not deliver on your promise or that you were doing 25 in a 60 zone. Congratulations. You are already a student of the spin even if you didn’t know it. And boy, are you effective!

Now let’s help you use it more deliberately for something more positive and productive. Let us make you a master of the spin.

Effective speaking: How to use the spin

Masterful use of the spin in your presentations and interactions takes time and practice but I will get you started with this series. My hope is that you will become more conscious of the importance of the spin you put on your content as you develop a consciousness of effective speaking in your presentations going forward.

There are more posts coming up. In this post, we discuss an important key to the spin - your choice of content.

Choose your content

Your choice of what to leave out is just as important as your choice of what to leave in

The reasoning here is easy to grasp. Put plainly, you have two enemies—doubt and distraction.

Doubt arises when you present information that weakens your credibility. Leadership and persuasion turn on trust as a door on hinges. One wrong move and the door gets slammed in your face.Keep the content relevant and favourable to your message. Introduce contrary information only as part of a process of clearly debunking it. Of course, this must be done ethically. Surely, you should not leave out information that you have a legal or moral obligation to disclose. But as for everything else that does not serve, chuck it! Be prepared, however, to answer any related issues if you will be fielding questions at any point in your presentation.

Distraction:  There are many ways that your listeners could get distracted from your message but including contradictory or irrelevant information is simply one of the worst things you can do in this regard. I recommend looking at my list of distracting behaviours here for more on this. In the meantime, I suggest leaving out irrelevant information for the simple fact that it distracts your audience. A distracted audience does not pay attention and like I always say – Attention is the currency of persuasion.

Attention is the currency of persuasion

Hire wisely

The principle here is simple: In effective speaking, you must make every piece work.

Think of the content pieces of your presentation as employees. They have to work to earn their keep. In this case, their keep is their place in your speech. No freeloaders allowed. Your content is taking up resources of time and energy. Therefore, it better be doing work.

Actually, this should be the acid test for your content. If it is not doing work, it's fired. Not contributing to your end goal? It is fired. It is sloppy or does not play well with the other tested and trusted employees? Fired. Because you realize that if it is not helping, it is hurting.

Your content is taking up resources of time and energy—it better be doing work!

Be very selective about the content you use. For example, when telling stories, be aware that every unnecessary detail you add will ultimately work against you. You can read more about storytelling in this article.

Likewise, for more academic content, referencing irrelevancies increases mental demand for your audience and distracts from your core thesis. Leave out whatever does not add to your message or purpose. You might also want to go through your speech and eliminate any weasel-words.In upcoming posts, we will look at other aspects of using the spin in your presentation. For now, as you prepare for your next presentation, be more deliberate about your content choice. And remember, if some piece of content is not serving a purpose or helping your message, it is hurting it.Till the next article, speak with skill.